Google is definitely taking the Netbook space seriously.
Netbooks are great for their portability but running Windows XP on it with limited hardware resources can be really painful.
Google recognizes this and recently announced the open source Google Chrome OS aimed squarely at Netbooks. It is an extension of its Mobile OS platform – Android to Netbooks.
Google Chrome OS is nothing but the current Chrome browser running inside a new windowing system on top of a linux kernel. While Android cannot run on x86 architecture, Google Chrome OS.
Taking this vision farther, Google is also getting into optimizing their web applications for Netbooks as well. Starting with their most popular web app – Gmail.
Netbooks are limited with their screen real estate. If you are used to applying labels to your emails via filters in Gmail, you would see your email like the below screenshots. You can hardly see the email subject lines.
No worries. Gmail Labs has a feature that you can turn on right now – “Remove Labels from subjects” that lets you see the subject lines clearly. Just go to Labs section under Settings and turn this feature on.
Before
After
Reading your Gmail messages in your Netbooks just became easier!
You can see all my Gmail related posts here and a list of my favorite Gmail labs features.
I am happy with using a laptop and an iPhone 3GS for my computing needs. My particular workstyle doesn’t require a Netbook but I can see how it can be immensely useful for a person on the go.
I don’t consider myself a Google fanboy but it’s hard to ignore when then clearly take a step in the right direction. Wouldn’t you agree?
K, I am hurt. You mention netbooks and you don’t even mention my limited experience. I have an MSI Wind U100 LXP+. Trust me, WinXP has no problem running on it. The only limited hardware resource is the lack of an optical drive and Google Chrome OS can’t solve that one.
.-= RT Cunningham´s last blog ..The MSI Wind Trackpad (Touchpad) was Driving Me Crazy =-.
RT! My bad my friend. I didn’t know you used a Netbook.. My comment on Win XP is something I heard from some of my friends but i guess they may be running more stuff than they need to on a netbook.
Cheers! 🙂
That’s okay. I love picking on you. Besides, your friends are full of it. 🙂
.-= RT Cunningham´s last blog ..The MSI Wind Trackpad (Touchpad) was Driving Me Crazy =-.
I’ve seriously been considering a Netbook lately + I finally got my Gmail organized. This just makes everything seem a whole lot better. I bow down to the efficiency gods! haha.
.-= Samson´s last blog ..Belkin WiFi Phone – Save Money On Your Phone Bills For Good updated Thu Jul 16 2009 9:17 pm CDT =-.
Google is always on top of their game with ease of use. I have not had too much trouble with my Netbook screen as it’s fine when I am on the go and when I am stationary, I connect to a larger screen. I’ll give this a try though to see if it makes minor improvements.
.-= Jim´s last blog ..Top Rated Netbook =-.